NGD, Epi LPS.

[Ward]

Yeah, that pick guard just happened to be where I put my ring and pinky finger to brace my hand, it made my palm rest in an odd place on the bridge because of the height difference and it felt awkward. I liked the look somewhat, but it just didnt feel right. Whats weird is I didnt notice that sitting down, but standing up, it was in the way.

That's interesting. I've never played an LP with a pickguard, but always thought that it might cramp my style because of that weird angle. Sounds like I was probably right...

[DonP]

Ive already found the pick guard to be a hindrance, so it came off.

Interesting. I like the looks without the pickguard, but I prefer playing with it on. I installed one on my 2002 keeper (came undrilled), but not my 1996 Classic Premium Plus. Not drilling into this top.

[DonP]

One thing I do notice is that I can bend the neck awfully easy by hand(I mean I do have to give it some muscle, but not as much as a maple neck), which I normally dont do, but in this instance I did it to check to make sure the neck actually wasnt cracked.

Something I read on my years on the LesPaulFourm (not "MY") is that most people say a soft neck is a bad thing as far as tone. But each guitar is different and that is a pretty general statement. A lot of people like the tone of the "softer" flatsawn maple necks on a Fender instead of the harder quartersawn stuff.

Just like any other wood, mahagany can come in harder and softer varieties. For maple, eastern is hard rock maple, western is soft.

Also take into consideration the cut; flatsawn is not as resistant to bending as quartersawn.

[Twitch]

well, im out on the way home with the epi lpc. I tried it out before i left with it and the neck didnt bend anywhere near as easy. Im gonna check the truss rod on the lps when i get home, it may be lose as this guitar was never really sold, so it just may need set up. If its still easy to bend then ill just chalk it up to softer wood, like i said, when i bend it i dont hear any creaking or crackling, so i dont think then neck is broken.

[Twitch]

Seems the neck may actually be cracked slightly. Not real bad, but I can get the crack in the finish to open up a bit when I put torque on the neck. No, worries though, so long as someone can tell me the formula for this thinned out wood glue I hear about all the time and advise me on exactly how to clamp it. I didnt pay very much for this guitar so a little work is no big deal. Its really not needed, as the neck is nowhere near the point of worrying about fully breaking, just figured I might as well.

[Twitch]

Seriously, no one has any tips for this?

[warlok]

I never fixed a guitar neck but have worked with wood since I was a kid. How big can you open the crack? And are you going to strip the neck now? Titebond and Gorilla wood glues are both supposed to be a maximum of 5% water (by weight) added for thinning without affecting bonding strength. I don't know the weight of a drop of water vs. a drop of glue (lol) but I've heard of people using up to 50/50 mix when it wasnt structural. A neck is structural, but you shouldn't need more than a few drops of water to thin the amount of glue you need in a syringe anyway. Wood glue only needs a very thin film between the parts, just enough to soak into the whole surface being bonded. Just thin to where you can get it in there and squeeze in there. Clamping is kinda dictated by how it's cracked. Is it angled (like a scarf joint), etc.. It sounds like it's not much of a crack. A little extra weight pushing the neck toward the crack may be enough. Or just a simple clamp from front to back on the neck. Good luck man!

[Twitch]

Thanks Warlock. I started a thread in TQA about it finally. Im not sure what Im going to do with it if anything now. Im going to take it to someone to look at it. Like I said in the TQA thread, Im not sure I can open the crack far enough to get anything in there, so it just plain and simply may not be as bad as I think it is, if its even cracked at all. Im gonna find an expert to look at first.